New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-09-18
AN IDEAL LIFE.
cABors BIOGRAPHY OF EMERSON.

A MEMOIR OF RALPH WALDO EMERSON BY JAMES san
ELpor casor In two volumes i2mo' PIP Will o"''
Honghton, Mfiin * Co.
These volumes prove that Emerson made wise
sl,oice 10 appointing Mr.. James Elliot Cabot MS
literary executor Mr.. Cabots purpose. as he tells
MS himself in his preface has been to offer 10 the
readers aud friends OF Emerson some further Illus
tration sDne details of his outward and ioward
history that may fill out and define more closely
the image Of him they already have, rather than 10
attempt picture which should make him known
tosranpers OF set him forth in dne relation to bis
surroundings OF t0.the world at large" Ho has not
undertaken an estimate of Emerson, but has been
content 10 furnish the materials for one. wthou.
interposng any comments beyond what See"eo
necessary for the better understanding of the FACTS
presented" Such Of these as are new nave ooeu
gathered from the journals Of Emerson, OF whlch
fnl series from his college days almost to the END
of his life" exists, and from the recollection Oh
"nersons WIN knew hIm in his early years ana III
b,s bomep Mr. Cabot congratuates himself, ana
with reason. upon the fact, as he puts II, that III
7 have not been able to draw from these interior
sonrces or from minute examination oil MS NE
mrch of irst-rate Importance TO ado 10 our hno"i
edge of Emerson, have been entirely iree' on Tue
other hand, from the gravest embarrassment tha'
ran meet the biographer OF man OF letters
who aspired to be puoiic teacher-i
mean the traces of discrepancy between the teach
ings and the character" In truth he had nothing
TO conceal. and the closer we are brought TO MS
inner life the moro blameless and high-prlncipieo
does 1t appear.
Mr.. Cabot's biographical work is done with dis-
tuguished tact and judgment He eftaces himself
and lets Emerson tell his own tale. illustrate DIS
own character and mental progress, and reveal
\, "
tanned man can even be possible by his writings
and his speech. The result is admirable memoir.
ful of solid interest full of pregnant thought free
from all coniectural estimates, ali hyperboiic ex
pressions all attempts to guide or create puDhc
Judgment 1t Is really surprising, too with what
attractiyeness Mr. Cabot has invested the RECORDS
of those years which were so uneventtui. yet whch
have been made to yield so many gimpses OF the
nhilosopher's inner life as seem TO strengthen
greatly the outline sketch of him impressed upon
the general memory
Ralph Waldo Emerson came OF an inteliectuai
ancestry, of family long habituaed to plain Nv
ing and high thinking. His father began the boys
education as soon as he could talk, and never
neglected their lessons.
Duripp n short absence from home he writes TO
his wife: William LACED ivel will reclte TO You
as he does to me, If you have leisure TO hear him
sentence of English grammar before oreakiast-
Il
r lph tagged ,hreeI should be that one" And he
"hopes that John Clarke Jagged seven can repeat
passages fro n Addison, Shakespeare Miiton' fope'
ETC."
All the boys. Edward, Charles and Ralph, had
Whimsical tendency. The two frst-named sue
cumbed to the disease eventually. and Emerson
himself appears to have had more than one narrow
escape The state of intellectual excltement-un-
der the pressure of know not how many literary
atmospheric as DR.. Furness says-in which the
children were brought up no doubt told unfavor-
ABLY upon their health and diminished the chances
of survival in the case of the weaker ones.
Their father was affecuonate but severe
Ralph's chief recollection of HIM was as
"A somewhat social gentleman, but severe TO
his children, who twice or thrice put me in mortal
terror by forcing me into the salt water, of some
wharf or bathing house. and still recall the fright
with which, after some of these salt experiences.
] heard his voice one day las Adam that OF the
Lord God IN, the, garden, summoning ME to new
bath andI yaiply endeavorDg to hide myself"
Ralph's schooldays began when he was three
years old. He was always quiet, meditative and
but little inclined for noisy sports. Judge Loring,
of Washington, who was at school with HIM. says:
"Hs,was not vigorous in body. and therefore not q
champion in athletic sports. My chief recollec-
ton is that Emerson was singularly free from
faults, and this was the substratum for his subss-
auent expansion in character and intellect" He
developed taste, rather than talent, for versi-
fication early and fell into the habit of using
rbymes in his correspondence The specimens
given are modest enough.
He entered Harvard in August. 1917. and his
parents beng very poor he was glad to avail him.
self of certain privileges such holding the posi-
ton of Presidents Freshman and waiting in the
Common Hall. He also received help subsequently
fro,o n naouast IN he First Church IN aid of door
scholars 1t Is interesting to note how, even IN his
fourteenth year, Emerson's leading characteristics
were developed. Dr. Lothrop. then lad two years
younger than Ralph, and getting ready to enter
college, was coached by him. He told Mr.. Cabot
that Emerson was of great service to him in lead
ing him to think more seriously aud rightly about
college life and indeed about life in general"
And again, "he seemed" said DR.. Lothrop, "to
dwell apart as If In a tower from which ne looked
upon everything from loophole of his own"
Emerson did not apply himself very
strictly to the college courses. fle detested
mathematics. 10 which he could make no
progress. and he used. as he wrote In one
of his Journals ito console his defects with
Chaueer aud Montaigne with Plutarch and Plato
at night" No doubt his mind sought and found
that which it could best assimilate from the first,
nnd Eaierson's soldtv and geuuneness. which al
ways guided him to original conclusions, kept him
from falling into the common rut and so perhaps
harming his future usefulness
On leaving college, where he had taken mid
ding place. he went to school keeping, much and
always against the grain. An extract from his
journal shows what his feelings were
December 10, 1920 l clam and clasp mo-
ment's respite from this irksome school to sauntcr
in fields of my own hayward thought. But when
came out from the hot steaming. slowed. stink
ing. dirty spelling school, / almost scared and
mounted the atmosphere at breathing the free.
magnificent air. the breath of life. 1t was de-
lightful exhilaration, but 1t soon passed Oft"
He seems to have had many air-castles at this
time. though Mr.. Cabot could not find what they
were -perhaps only the inevitable vague ambitions
Of nineteen. He had special ground of CON-
plant He was doing what lie had expected to
do, and what his father and his grandfather had
done before him; the only difference was that in
his case the circumstances were unusually favor
able" Intended for the ministry. he seems never
to have contemplated that career with complete
satisfaction, and as the spirit of Liberalism made
40, acAu fiapr haca